


Test Story, Don't Upvote

by quaelegit (quae_bookmarks)



Category: Original Work
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, M/M, this doesn't deserve the m/m category tag but it amused me to check it, well not really but that was the intention, written for wasywapose
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 05:00:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26569933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quae_bookmarks/pseuds/quaelegit
Summary: A loser turned hero reconnects with an old nemesis, except I didn't actually manage to write it.
Kudos: 1





	Test Story, Don't Upvote

**Author's Note:**

> For thewebcomicsreview quick writing challenge 9/18/2020.
> 
> Prompts:
> 
>   1. A broke loser has suddenly lucked into fame and fortune, and suspects this is why an old friend turned enemy has shown up seeking to get a redemption arc
>   2. An action hero is feeling down, and some romantic time alone on the beach with his love interest makes him realize what he needs to get his mojo back: Some romantic time alone on the beach with his nemesis
> 

> 
> I tried to combine two prompts and it didn't work. Personally I'd recommend against reading this story.

Sandro should have been on top of the world. He had saved the day and got the girl, and a grateful country had heaped rewards at his feet, from medals and titles to the kind more easily exchanged for cash. He paid off his debts, moved him and his mother to a nicer apartment, and settled in to enjoy the fame and fortune.

Of course there were some downsides, too. Paparazzi seemed to find him any time he ventured out in public. He thought of himself as a pretty average and nondescript person, but somehow they always managed to pick him out of a crowd, baseball-cap-and-sunglasses disguise notwithstanding. It got to the point where he couldn’t even go on a date Marianne to a nice restaurant or something. Fortunately she also appreciated long walks on the beach, and they started exploring their local coastline looking for the most secluded and romantic (or really, to Sandro’s mind, least likely to run into another human being) spots.

It was a good choice, because they both liked nature and Sandro found the waves soothing. But today even the surf lapping at his feet did little to calm him.

“What’s eating at you?” Marianne asked, linking arms as they walked side by side.

“I had a visit from… well... this guy,” Sandro finished lamely, at a loss to explain Vernon.

That was the other downside -- friends and family, even the most tenuous acquaintances coming out of the woodwork looking for favors or financial help. Sandro tried to help when he could, especially for small things that were like nothing in the light of his newfound wealth. Having been until recently a loser with no prospects himself, he really empathized with the anxiety of small issues that you just couldn’t afford to fix, and he loved how easy it was to help others with such problems now. (Of course the reward money wasn’t infinite, but so far everything had been too small to even show up as a rounding error in his fortune. And that now he was on call as an action hero he foresaw future rewards next time the world needed saving.)

So he donated to school library funds and paid for his cousin’s pet mammoth’s vet bill when the beast got sick. But when Vernon appeared out of nowhere, in the alleyway of his building after a decade of silence, it was different.

They had been friends, and rivals, heroes in training together. Friendly rivals? But when Sandro started to fall behind, Vernon lost all respect for him. They fought. With the vicious parting words, “You’ll never amount to anything, and I never want to remember you!” Vernon cast him out of his life.

Until suddenly he was there in the alleyway.

“So,” Vernon had started, awkwardly. “...Congratulations on your success?”

Sandro had been at a loss. He wasn’t sure what to say or what emotions he was feeling, aside from shock at the familiar face.

Rallying in the face of Sandro’s silence, Vernon tried again, “I know this is awkward, but I think I need your help. Here,” he held out a piece of paper -- a business card? -- and Sandro, still in shock, took it by default. “I’ll try to talk to you again later.”

Now, walking with Marianne on the beach, Sandro couldn’t get the exchange out of his head. Vernon’s face as he struggled for words, his… intensity. There was something important going on here, but Sandro was at a complete loss to figure out what.

Anyways they realize their true feelings for each other and get together, the end.


End file.
